


xix. safe and sound

by icymapletree



Series: febuwhump/febufluff 2020 [19]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Febufluff, Gen, Parent Tony Stark, Platonic Cuddling, Sleepy Cuddles, Sleepy Peter Parker, but i've decided that it goes up anyway lol, i wrote something very similar to this for the first installment of febuwhump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:41:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22811152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icymapletree/pseuds/icymapletree
Summary: “Alright, I think it’s time for bed,” Tony sighs.Peter who’s been dramatic all night, sighs and purses his lips. “Only if you do that thing where you scratch my head.”Tony pretends like he’s making a really hard decision before he smiles and motions for Peter to join him. “Come on in, kiddo.”
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: febuwhump/febufluff 2020 [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1618837
Comments: 22
Kudos: 279





	xix. safe and sound

Tony will never get used to the way that he jolts awake after a nightmare. It’s pure, unadulterated terror, the kind that rips away so many layers that it leaves him emotionally bare. It helps to wake up and have Pepper next to him, a warmth that radiates over to his side of the bed. But sometimes, that’s not enough. 

Tonight, it had been a vague dream that left his heart beating fast and his lungs void of breath. He can pick out a few things from his dreams - Thanos snapping, Peter turning to dust, Rhodey falling, the wormhole - but everything other than that is just out of reach. 

These are the worst, the ones that are vague and made of memories-- because Tony can’t rationalize them. They leave shaking hands and phantom pains where his arm used to be. He can’t help the fear that follows him when he wakes up-- especially since he’d woken up in this bed at the cabin for five years, with the knowledge that Peter wasn’t alive in this house, but wasn’t alive in the city, either.

Pepper had hoped that it would help to move to the countryside and get a farm like the Bartons. Leave Peter’s ghosts in the city. It only made Tony feel guilty, being a place that Peter had never touched. He could look at his Manhattan apartment and point out the little things that had happened there with Peter.

After he’d have a nightmare in his old apartment, he’d wake up feeling the need to _move_ , to pace, to do something. Every time he got up, he’d walk by the window that Peter broke when he was trying out a new web formula, the memory being bittersweet but still bringing a smile to his face. The memory would hurt at first, but then it would remind him of what he was fighting for. He didn’t like to talk about Peter during the peacetime, but it was nice for part of him to exist in little reminders around him. 

But the pictures were too much. Seeing the kid’s face, frozen in time, just reminded him of what he could never see in motion again. 

When Peter was brought back to life, his DNA stitched back together, it became different. All of those pictures that Pepper had printed _just in case_ , were put up on the wall. 

They don’t make his chest ache any more, especially when the real thing is just behind a closed door.

The remaining fear still bounces around in his chest like a pinball, even after he gulps down a cup of herbal tea. It’s starting to cause strain on his body, like a thousand pounds sitting on top of his shoulders. He needs just a peek in Peter’s room, make sure that he’s not a pile of ashes. 

He carefully climbs the stairs, careful to tip toe by Morgan’s room. He taps his fingernail on the door, almost so quiet that he can’t hear it - just to make sure that Peter isn’t awake. For as deep as Peter sleeps when he has nightmares, he usually sleeps pretty light. 

He expects no answer, but he hears a groan come from the back of Peter’s room. Tony’s heart rate picks up - is Peter hurt? - but then Tony realizes that FRIDAY would’ve told him if anything had happened. Still, seeing is believing, so Tony slowly opens the door. 

Peter’s slouched over his desk in the back of his bedroom, his lamp leaving harsh shadows on his face. He blinks and sniffs, turning around and spotting Tony with squinted eyes. The knot in Tony’s chest comes unraveled.

He shuts his laptop. “Hi Mr. Stark. Wasn’ expecting you this late.”

Tony can’t help it, he smiles. “Whatcha working on, Petey?”

“Ned bet me I wouldn’ write an Avengers pet AU and post it to my Tumblr even though it’s _totally_ a crack fic, and no one’s gonna read it.”

“Ah,” Tony nods, like any of that made sense to him. “What’s a pet AU?”

“Where everyone is pets. Duh.”

Tony sits on Peter’s bed, and Peter spins his chair to better look at Tony. “What animal am I?” he asks.

“A hairless cat. Duh.”

Tony chuckles. “Why hairless? Hairless cats are like, discount cats.”

Peter inhales sharply, turning to gasp at Tony. “I’ll have you know that hairless cats make very good pets.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” Tony smiles.

A comfortable silence settles over them, Tony is just glad to be here with his kid. Peter eventually speaks up - that kid can never keep quiet for long. “I'm a golden retriever,” he says, giving his chair a spin.

“Of course. All of your school pictures look like stock photos of happy puppies anyway.” Peter opens his mouth to protest, but Tony beats him to it with another question. “What kind of animal is Thor?”

“A frog,” he says simply, and to Tony’s confused look, he shrugs. “It just felt right. Like some sort of cosmic power was tellin’ me to do it or somethin’.

“Alright, I think it’s time for bed,” Tony sighs. 

Peter who’s been dramatic all night, sighs and purses his lips. “Only if you do that thing where you scratch my head.”

Tony pretends like he’s making a really hard decision before he smiles and motions for Peter to join him. “Come on in, kiddo.”

Tony pulls back the covers as Peter curls into his side. Tony squeezes his shoulder, almost like he’s double checking that Peter’s still there. He can see him, but it’s not the same as being able to touch him. He scratches Peter’s head, and the kid leans into it.

“I think I migh’ be too old for this,” Peter grumbles.

“Never too old, Pete.”

“Even when I’m grown and have kids? You’ll still rub my head?”

Tony laughs, light and airy. “If that’s what you want.”

Peter smiles, and Tony gets up to turn off the lamp. “Mr. _Stark_.”

“You can’t sleep if it’s not dark in here, squirt.”

“But _Mr. Stark_.”

“I’m right here, I’m right here.”

He goes back to scratching Peter’s head once they’re settled in again. Peter’s quiet, uet his breath hasn’t settled, his inhales are still sharp and his exhales are jagged. 

“What’s going on, Pete?” Tony whispers. 

“Nothin’.”

“I don’t believe that for a second.”

Peter hums, and tilts his head like he’s considering telling Tony what’s wrong. “I don’t wanna go to sleep.”

“Oh yeah, why not?”

“If I go to sleep, I might get a nightmare.”

“I understand that, honey, but you’ve got to go to bed.” 

“Y’know, Dr. Banner said that if I eat enough calories then I won’t ever have to sleep.”

Tony empathizes with Peter’s fear more than anything else. Sometimes, if he got so tired that he passed out - or got so drunk that he passed out - the nightmares never came. But if they do come anyway-- the exhaustion makes the fear so bad that it takes his breath away. 

Peter just needs to _sleep_ and work through his issues while he’s awake.

“And did you eat that many calories?”

“No,” Peter grumbles, “I did the math though. I’d have to eat ev’ry fifteen minutes.”

Tony places a kiss on Peter's temple. “You know, seeing you and knowing that you’re here helps me sleep.”

“Same.”

“Oh really?”

“Mhm.”

“Since we are each other’s nightmare deterrents, that must mean that there will be no nightmares tonight.”

It takes a few seconds for Tony’s words to set in, and Peter smacks his lips, tilting his head in thought. “Hm. I guess that makes sense.”

“It does, doesn’t it?”

Peter nods, and Tony tucks himself farther under the covers.

“Goodnight, Peter.”

“Goodnight, Mr. Stark,” Peter says, turning over to go to sleep. He only has to listen for a few minutes to hear Peter’s breath even out. Only when he’s sure that Peter’s unconscious, he allows himself to fall asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed! come talk to me on [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/icymapletree)


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